Senior Year
by boiseabram
Summary: Title says it all! The Ducks final year at Eden Hall. Mostly Guy and Charlie, and a little Adam. More of an explanation on the girls inside. DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue: The Team

**PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING THE STORY:** Here's the thing. Riley and Jackie are Connie and Julie, for the most part. When I had started to put story ideas together, I realized that I liked having a back history line like Connie and Guy, but I didn't like Connie's character too much. Nor did I like Julie's. So, Riley and Jackie have their back history, but their personality and appearances are different. Sorry if this ruins it for you!

**I don't own the Mighty Ducks. Damn. I don't even really own Riley and Jackie considering they're modeled after the history that was created for them in the movies. Anyway, carry on!**

**PROLOGUE: The Team.**

The rink had become home; had been home for quite some time. After all, home is a place where you find your family, the people who support you in everything, who never let you down. The Ducks are my family, and I didn't realize it much till I got older – but even before we were the Ducks they had always been my family. Back then though, we were too consumed with what game we were going to play next, who was pulling whose hair, and whom ate who's candy bar. You don't realize how much a group of people; your family mean to you until it's threatened to be taken away. There were times in the past where I myself have been divided from the team, but when you look back on it – it had been my own choice. It didn't seem like it then, of course. I know better now.

Hockey had always made things better. Fights that brewed between us, here and there, never serious but we were a stubborn group of people – some of us more so than others. However, once practice rolled around it never seemed to be an issue anymore. Problems, altercations, arguments seemed to melt away into the ice once our skates started to glide. Though, problems never went away that easy, right? They were just bottled up for next time. Maybe that's where we all went wrong.

My team; my family, were gathered on the ice as per usual. A lot of the time we called our own practices, which was really just an excuse for us to mess around. Without Coach Orion around it was easier to have more fun; the kind of fun we had when we were kids and all we had to skate on was a frozen pond. Don't get me wrong our coach was awesome, but when we had our practice time he wanted us to, you know, actually practice.

I'm not going to lie; it's pretty hard to break into our Duck circle. It was pretty easier when we were younger, before we were really known internationally as the Ducks; before they named the pro team, Anaheim Ducks after us. A handful of us grew up together, and the other five joined up with us about five years ago now. There was really no letting anyone else in, not by choice, but no one else could break through the walls. Mainly, it was they who had gotten frustrated not being able to break through the Mighty Duck barriers. Girlfriends, mostly. I don't blame them for getting frustrated. Especially having Riley and Jackie on the team – our two females. The two toughest girls I've ever met. The Ducks on the team they were closest to never seemed able to keep a girlfriend, myself included.

The two girls were currently at the opposite end of the rink from me, gearing up for practice. This included them strapping up their skates, while laughing wildly at God only knows what. They'd been best friends for five years now; since Jackie Collins, number 6, joined the team. Riley Parker, number 8, on the other hand had been on the team from the beginning. She was my sister, considering I don't have a real one – the girl has known me since I was in diapers. We probably took baths together, a fact we don't really bring up now that we're eighteen years old and in our senior year of high school.

While Jackie on the other hand, we didn't share the innermost, embarrassing secrets of a childhood friendship, but she'd still turned out to be one of my best friends. I could talk to her about anything – it was always easier to talk to a female, they seemingly being the more sensitive type. Jackie also seemed to have a good grip on reality, which led to her being able to give me the best advice possible. Naturally, I'd always reciprocate my own advice for her if need be.

Moving on from the girls to the rest of the team; the rest of my buddies. The guys. Luis Mendoza, number 22, the resident speedster hailing from Miami, Florida. Not one of the Ducks I was closest to, but still a Duck and a very good friend. The kid was girl crazy, and hanging around Riley and Jackie never seemed to have an effect on his romantic life. Or, more appropriately his sex life. Luis didn't do girlfriends, and back in our freshman year is when I'd lost count of all his conquests. Jackie had been one of those said conquests, though I'm not sure how many of the other team members knew of this. It didn't show because Luis and Jackie had always retained a friendship despite this fact.

As Luis slipped a skate onto the ice, he immediately whirled around to face the two girls making their way onto the ice as well. Jackie had headed in the direction of the goal, while Riley lingered toward the center – with Luis close by. I wasn't sure at first if they were just dawdling around their positions or if Luis had now shifted his attention to her. Though Luis had always shown attention toward Riley, despite his fling with Jackie. Jackie didn't care either way. Though, the thing with Riley is simply the fact that her name was synonymous with Guy Germaine, number 00. Another Duck I grew up with; whom I was close with.

Guy and Riley were inseparable and have been since they were kids. Though they were my two best friends, truth was they were more each other's best friends. At least, in that weird sort of romantic relationship way. They were ten years old and already holding hands, for crying out loud. I don't think they ever went though the 'boys have cooties' and 'girls are icky' stage. Then again, for Riley, all her friends were boys and she played on a hockey team with them. She really couldn't think of them as having cooties, she was one of us.

In any case, Guy was skating figure rights down on my end of the rink. He had always been head over heels for Riley. When they were fourteen and here in Eden Hall, they had actually split up. An awkward time for the rest of us Ducks, because we didn't know Riley without Guy. They were practically Siamese twins. Being roommates with Guy, and being his best friend next to his ex-girlfriend at the time, of course he confided in me. Then again, anytime he had anything important to talk about he confided in me. Told me that the reason for the break up had been Riley. She didn't think their relationship was real, or something. Maybe it was a test for him or even just a test for herself. Needless to say, Guy had passed with flying colors and I suppose she did, too, because this split didn't last too long. They had gotten back together, forming a more 'real' romantic relationship now that they were older.

Apparently they had broken up (again) a week before school started. That was two weeks ago. This time, however, neither one confided in me so I was in the dark as to the reasoning. I didn't even know they were having problems, but they were pretty quiet about their relationship. PDA wasn't really a big thing with the two, which really was delightful for the team. Anyway, so they two had broken up and it was just common knowledge. Either it wasn't mutual, or they still had that longing for each other. In my opinion, the two idiots are meant to be so I don't know why they're wasting time with this break-up. They didn't ask for my opinion, though, so I kept my mouth shut. For now.

The rest of the Ducks had finally made their way out onto the ice. Things hadn't changed much for them. Les Averman, number 4, and Greg Goldberg, number 33, were still the comic reliefs on the team. Though over the years their jokes had gotten a hell of a lot more inappropriate. Seems only fitting now that we're getting older though, I suppose. Dean Portman, number 21, and Fulton Reed, number 44, were still Bash Brothers, though Dean had gotten a lot angrier in general, it seemed. Especially after him and Jackie had stopped… doing whatever it was that they were doing. It was clear that they were hooking up for a few weeks there, and let me tell you they were nothing like Guy and Riley who did things behind closed doors.

I watched in front of me now as Adam Banks, number 99, slapped the puck around back and forth with Guy. Banks, probably now equivalent to Guy in the friendship department with me and it seemed he ranked pretty high on Guy's best friends' list. Those two could make it into the NHL for sure, and would most definitely go onto play college hockey. Simply common knowledge and they've mentioned it more then once. At least they knew what they wanted to do in life.

My attention shifted to the resident puck hog, Dwayne 'Cowboy' Robertson, number 7. He and I didn't have meaningful talks so I wasn't too sure what he really wanted to do. Not to mention, even if I had tried to ask him he'd start talking Texan and I'd be completely baffled. He had that effect on the team still after five years of being apart of us. Russ Tyler, number 56, and Kenny Wu, number 16 rounded up the rest of us. What's to say? Russ still had the biggest mouth of us all and Kenny was still doing spins in the air.

I laughed when Banks had started to cheer for himself after he hit the puck into the empty net, and then proceeded to cheer as his skates glided along the slick surface. I noticed Guy laughing, too. Jackie said something along the lines of him being a chicken shit for shooting at an unattended goal instead of at the goal she was in. We all laughed again.

It was funny how some things were exactly the same, but at the same time it amazed me at how much we'd all actually really changed. I guess I don't notice it right away because I've changed so much myself. I mean, I knew these people when I was twelve years old when it was all just about Hockey, playing around, and innocent pranks. Well, maybe not so innocent but you know what I mean. Now, it's all about finding a girl (or guy, for Jackie and now Riley), hooking up, having sex, and where we're all going to be next year. When did we all grow up so fast?

I'm Charlie Conway, number 96 and I had no idea that senior year was going to be as hard as it would prove to be. That life was going to be as hard as it would turn out to be.


	2. What do you need condoms for anyway?

**I don't own the Mighty Ducks. Damn. I don't even really own Riley and Jackie considering they're modeled after the history that was created for them in the movies. Anyway, carry on!**

**Chapter 1: What do you need condoms for anyway?**

Charlie used this time to come up with plays for the team. When in his playful mode, he actually had the tendency to come up with a lot of different tricks to get the puck into the net during these 'messing-around' practices. All while bul-shitting around with his friends. His stick grazed along the puck as he knocked it down toward Guy, who had silently decided to take on Jackie instead of the empty net.

Thing was, Jackie wasn't paying attention anymore. "Averman! I told you to stop going through my bag in search of condoms. What do you need them for anyway?" Her padded gloves were on her hips. She distinctly heard the clank of the puck knocking against the inside of the net. "GERMAINE! YOU CHEAT!" She exclaimed, her attention turning toward him.

Guy gave a small grin, as he skated behind the net and around her. His shoulders lifted up in a shrug. "Stop stashing condoms in your purse, this way they'll stop trying to steal them from you. Ergo, next time you can pay attention and TRY to block my shot." He teased.

Jackie's initial reaction was to yell over to Riley to get her boyfriend to stop harassing her. However, realization dawned and instead she imagined smacking him upside his head with her stick. She did neither, "I hate you." She called to him as he continued to skate.

Guy turned around, passing the center line and watched as Luis skated relatively close to Riley. His eyes narrowed, and his attention turned away, trying hard to convince himself that it wasn't bothering him. As he continued to skate forward, however, he kept looking back.

Charlie skated up and over in the direction of Jackie in her goal. As he neared her, he watched Goldberg step on the ice only to watch his skates fly above his head as he crashed down on his back. "Oh, don't worry about me Charlie, I'll help myself up." He stated sarcastically as Charlie blew past him simply laughing.

"Well, your fat ass got you that way, you can get yourself up." He teased, stopping after he continued on toward his destination.

Jackie had skated to the side of the goal post as Charlie approached her, and she flipped her helmet up. Though, her glance was not exactly in Charlie's direction – it was in the same direction as Luis and Riley.

"What the hell is that?" The two chorused to each other at the same time, pointing slightly.

The two glanced at each other, "You're suppose to know these things, Charlie. What's wrong with you?" Jackie said in a teasing tone, as she shook her head.

Charlie laughed. "I can't believe how in the middle I am of this entire group, yet I'm completely lost at the same time." He slapped a hand down to force Jackie's helmet shut once again. "Riley tell you anything?"

She shoved at him, causing him just to skate backwards a bit, but still answered his question. "Nope, didn't bring things up. Quite frankly, I'm tired of her relationship with Guy being so private she makes it hard for me to live vicariously through her." She grinned.

He glanced around, looking as to where the one puck they'd brought along had ended up. Guy was still the one skating around with it for the most part, while Dwayne chased after him. "Neither did Guy. I get the feeling things will come to a head in just a little while." He stated, nodding his head toward Luis.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" She responded in a mocking tone.

"Did you end up reading that book I gave you?" Riley questioned, skating in a circle. She had glanced around the arena a few times at the rest of her teammates wondering if they were actually going to get together and do something. Round-up at the very least.

Luis stood somewhat still, a charming smile on his face. "Would you believe me if I said I at least cracked it open?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Nope." She grinned, skating off and away from him this time. Her speed picked up as she moved to catch up to Russ, snaking the puck from under him with her stick.

"Hey!" She heard Russ call after her, as she continued on to score on the empty net. "I would have passed it to you had you asked but nooooo, Riles, you gotta be all sneaky about it."

"What's the fun in that?" Her skates carried her around the back of the net, glancing at Guy off to the side as she did so. She glanced away, her attention turned back toward the majority of the group. "Hey, let's do a scrimmage?" She suggested.

The rest of the group agreed, while Averman looked reluctant – he seemed pleased just relaxing sprawled out on the ice conversing with his buddies. That was until Portman skimmed passed him, knocking his stick into Averman's padding. "OUCH." He exclaimed, "Alright, I'm up!"

It didn't take the team long to decide on who was against who. For one, it didn't really matter, they just started to play. Meaning someone started heading toward a goal with the puck, and someone tried to take it from them. It continued this way, until basically the teams had been formed. Not to mention the fact that when they actually played, they typically had their own set lines. Of course, things were switched up from time to time, but for the most part things remained the same. Jackie or Goldberg in goal; though Jackie was really the main goalie now because Goldberg had taken up to be somewhat of a third Bash Brother – he was a killer defensemen now. First line had him and Jackie both starting, her in goal him on defense, Portman as the other defender. Banks was center, while Guy and Riley were his wings. Typically he played right wing, and she was left.

So, normally during these scrimmages they'd fall into this rotation as well. Coach Orion had the tendency to throw random people into the equation seeing how they worked with one another. Something he'd been messing around with since becoming their coach. The team was pretty equal, though. Sure, Adam and Guy were normally the ones scoring, with Charlie right behind them, but it wasn't just about the goals. Something that their Coach had drilled into their heads that first year.

Nonetheless, customarily he kept his forward line Riley, Adam, and Guy because of how well the three worked with each other. In reality, Adam could receive any pass shot in his general direction, while Riley and Guy just always found each other on the ice and made things happen. More commonly it's her with the assist and him with the shot, she wouldn't lie – he had the better shot; better aim.

To the team member's closet to 'the couple', they took notice to the fact that they weren't working as well together as they normally did. Their break-up had obviously effected their game; their connection. Or, they simply just ignored it.

As Averman trapped Adam from advancing, he hit the puck toward Riley's stick. Adam never hogged the puck anyway. On a normal basis, Riley could have been only a few feet from the goal, and if she saw it fit that Guy had the easier shot, she'd knock the puck in his direction. This time, she took the shot herself, watching it sail between the pipes.

No one really noticed much, and Riley could only assume that Guy had picked up on the fact that she didn't pass it to him for the shot. She glanced in his direction, as they sailed back toward the center. He was looking in her direction, but with the mask over his face she couldn't tell his expression. She didn't need to see it, however, she knew him well enough to be able to picture the disappointment in his eyes. It wasn't a big deal, she'd try to tell herself, but deep down she knew it was between the two of them.

Apparently Charlie had noticed this as well. He sometimes wished he hadn't been so in-tuned to Guy and Riley's odd behavior toward each other.

* * *

After their practice the team one by one began to retreat back to their dorm rooms. They'd probably all meet up again later for the night, but for now they were going to relax.

"Let's gooo, Jackie." Riley said, banging her hand on the side of her locker as she peered around to grin in her face. "Why are you so slow?" She tormented.

"LISTEN, Riles. I tell you this every time, I've got more padding then you, jeez." Jackie retorted. This really was a conversation they had every single time after a game or practice.

All but three or four people had cleared out of the locker room, when Luis came up to the two females. "You ladies want to do something?" He questioned, his gaze going from the goalie to the forward.

"Yeah, I want to shower." Riley responded, with a grin. "I smell like a can of ass, it's bad."

"Don't you always."

Riley shoved Jackie at the comment, and she laughed.

"We all smell like a can of ass." Luis pointed out to Riley, as if that meant it was okay for her to hang out with him instead of showering.

"I most certainly do not!" Jackie chimed in once more. Although, Jackie's nature was to chime on just about everyone's comment, she found herself doing it more so now then before. Maybe this way Luis would stop hitting on her best friend.

The blonde glanced from her friend loud mouth friend to the guy standing before her. "Alright, I'm heading back, taking a shower and I'll talk to you afterwards, ok?" She nodded at Luis and then looked to Jackie. "I'll see you in the room, whenever your fat ass finishes taking off your freakin' padding."

"I'll walk you back." Luis said and dashed after Riley before Jackie really had the chance to say anything else.

Jackie's glance turned to Charlie, who had been surveying the scene that played out as well. They were now the only two left in the locker room. Charlie let his locker shut and made his way over toward Jackie, now. "She has no idea that he's hitting on her, does she?"

"Not a clue." Jackie sighed, closing her locker as well. She adjusted the book bag onto her shoulders, glancing up at him. "I'll try talking to her."

"Good, and then you'll tell me exactly what she says." He gave Jackie a pat on her back pack, and he headed toward the door. A moment later he paused, and turned around. "It's sick how much I want to know what the hell is going on."

"Yeah, it is." She laughed, nodding, and headed out after him.

* * *

As Riley and Luis made their way outside, she caught a glimpse of her blonde counterpart off to the side of the building. Luis noticed her paused, and he glanced back as well. "I'll catch up with you later." She told Luis, and redirected her route in Guy's direction.

Luis wasn't persistent this time; he took off across the campus toward the dorms. Part of him felt guilty for trying to talk to Riley the way he was, but the other part reminded him that he had had a crush on this girl for sometime.

Walking right up to Guy, Riley faced him and in a quick motion she plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and tossed it to the ground. "What the hell-- He started.

Her foot stomped on the lit cigarette to put it out, before she kicked it off to the side to hide in the grass. "What's the matter with you? What did I tell you about that?" She whipped her head in his direction.

Guy wiped a hand along his brow, knowing better then to dig into his pocket to light up another one in front of her. "You know I only do it when I'm stressed out."

"Yeah, what are you so stressed out about?" She quirked an eyebrow, her arms folding over her chest.

He pushed his back up against the wall harder in order to push himself off completely. "What do you think?" He questioned, brushing passed her.

Riley whirled around, and it took her a moment before her feet picked up after him. "You don't see me smoking cause we broke up!" She exclaimed, trying to keep in step with him.

"You don't smoke, period."

"And neither should you."

Guy had stopped and stared hard at her. His eyes softened up as they focused on his ex-girlfriend, before he sighed and looked away. "I get that we're suppose to be seeing what else is out there and what-not." He began quietly. "But do you have to see what else is out there with someone on the team?"

She looked perplexed at this question. "What are you talking about?" She asked, shaking her head. "I'm not getting involved with anyone on the team."

Guy's hand gestured in the direction that Luis had just ventured off into. "What do you call all practice, and the past few days with you and Mendoza?" He questioned, the quiet tone disappearing.

"I'm not trying to date him!" She shouted, in her defense. It was the truth.

"Well, he's sure trying to date you. Or do something with you." The latter he mumbled somewhat, but Riley had caught the gist of what he was getting at.

Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. "Yeah, that's exactly it. We broke up so I could have wild sex with Mendoza, it's so obvious." Her voice dripped with sarcasm and this time her feet picked up in the same direction. "It's nice to know that you really think I'd do that."

This happened often, more often then not actually. Whenever one of them was mad, they'd end up angering the other – both had tempers, it really made things a lot more difficult.

His feet picked up after her. "_We_ didn't exactly break up; this was all your idea." He said pointedly. When she wouldn't look at him, and kept going he sighed. "Come on, you know I don't think you'd do that…" His voice drifted off.

When he'd given her somewhat of an apology, Riley's face turned toward his. "You agreed to the break-up, anyway! It's healthy for us." She sighed, coming to a halt. "Seriously, though, do you really think I'd have sex with him?" She gave him a small smile.

"I said I didn't think you would, but I don't think flirting with him is exactly healthy for us…" Absent-mindedly, his hand reached around to pull out the box of cigarettes he had. He'd picked up his habit for a week now, though able to hide it from everyone for the most part.

The conversation came to a close there. Her hand came up to snatch the box away from him, "You smoke another one of these," She held up the box in his face. "and I'm never kissing you again." She warned, and walked away, with the box.

He had mixed feelings about this one. While he desperately wanted a cigarette, her somewhat promise to kiss him again threw him for a loop. They had said their break-up was only temporary, but it boggled him as to why break up at all if it was only temporary? He'd had convinced himself that there was more to her suggestion to break up then what she'd really said, but as he watched he walk away – her words gave him a newfound hope with their relationship.

And he wouldn't smoke a cigarette.


	3. Guy's so vain

**I don't own anything.**

**Chapter 2: Guy's so vain**

Jackie met Riley back up in their dorm room, just a few minutes after Riley had arrived. "I call shower first." She stated, once she saw the dark haired girl enter the room.

Jackie made a face, dropping her bag to the side. "Fine, whatever. By the way, we're meeting up with Charlie and Adam after we're finished getting dressed. …and probably the rest of them, but definitely those two meatheads."

Riley had grabbed a towel and a change of clothes from her dresser as she spoke. Once she finished, she turned to face her friend. "Oh, okay." She shrugged. "Where are we going? I'll invite Mendoza along as well." She said.

"Since when are you and him so buddy-buddy?" Jackie asked, tilting her head to the side as she sat at their computer chair. No need to sweaty-up her bed.

The blonde quirked an eyebrow. "Buddy-buddy?" She laughed slightly. "He's on the team, we've always talked." She stated as if the behavior with the two of them over the course of the last few days was normal. "Do you… not want him around?"

She shook her head, immediately. "No, no it's not that at all. We all love Luis…" Her voice drifted off and she bit down on her lip. "Listen, Riles, I don't pry, you know I don't, but I am a little concerned; a little curious as to what's going on with you and Guy." Jackie normally was the one with the guy issues, for the most part. It was always Riley asking her what was going on; why she seemed off. Not the other way around.

Riley had her reasoning for initiating the break-up. More then one reason, really. Though, she'd only told Guy the one. "…there's.. She cut herself off and sighed. "I've been seen as Guy's girlfriend since I was like… ten; I think I deserve a break, don't you?"

Jackie laughed a bit at this. "A break? What would you need a break for? He treats you like a Goddess. I'd be all over that if I was you."

"Yeah, well you're not me." It didn't come off in a harsh manner; it was just stating the obvious. In fact, Jackie and Riley were pretty much opposites when not on the hockey rink.

Realization crossed Jackie's face, and she spoke up again as Riley made her way into the bathroom. "This has to do with the whole sex thing, doesn't it?" A previous conversation the two girls had had on multiple occasions.

Riley re-emerged from the bathroom on this note. "No." Her weight shifted from side to side, glancing around the room and she sighed. "Alright, yeah, maybe a little, but that's not the only reason why, ok?" She said the last part quickly.

"So, what reason did you give him?" Jackie asked. "Did you do the, 'Oh, sorry babe you're starting to suck on the ice, and I can't be seen with a big loser'. She laughed loudly, at herself for the most part. Her and Guy were close, and she spent majority of her time ridiculing him relentlessly.

Riley gave a small smile. "How'd you guess?" She said sarcastically. "No, shut up. I told him that we needed to experience other people, or at the very least experience time apart." She gave a wry smile. "I just don't want to look back ten years from now and regret spending all my high school years with one person."

Jackie's brow furrowed. "And this is what you'll say when you're married to said guy ten years from now? That you regret being with him since you were ten?" She gave a confused look.

"See, that's what I'm talking about." Riley pointed toward Jackie. "You practically have our wedding planned out for us-"

"Uh, yeah? I will be your maid of honor and I will not be wearing pink. Averman will be the flower girl-"

"Jackie!" She exclaimed.

"Okay, okay." Jackie rolled her eyes. "But seriously, you've been with him since you were ten for a reason, and I highly doubt you'll look back and regret spending all that time with him. EVEN if you two don't end up married… with three little boys. Who all grow up playing hockey. With a dog."

Riley's hand rested on the bathroom door frame, and she tilted her head. "Hmm, I imagined a daughter somewhere in there."

"No, no, this is what I have planned out for you, remember? No girls." Jackie ducked her head to the side as a hairbrush flung passed her and watched Riley disappear behind the bathroom door.

* * *

Jack's Bar and Grill held karaoke three nights out of the week. Some, if not all, of the Ducks ended up there on all three nights. Sometimes a few would stay behind because of homework or previous engagements, but otherwise they'd be there. Majority of the time, they'd get alcohol from the store around the block and drink it before arriving. This was Jackie's favorite pastime.

Riley was on Jackie duty, as per usual. It was a good thing that Riley didn't drink, because Jackie drank more then enough for the both of them. Though, there had been plenty of times when Jackie offered to be the sober one for the night, but Riley didn't care to be the drunk one any night.

Quite possibly the best part of the night, was when Jackie was drunk while singing. Each time she was and they'd go there, she'd sing a song and completely change the words. Well, not completely, just here and there for her own amusement and much to Guy's dismay. Meaning, every song she'd find a way to incorporate his name into it.

The whole group had made it there tonight, all splitting in different direction before the karaoke actually started.

Averman and Goldberg hung around the bar, driving all the drunks crazy. They once super-glued a drunk man's change to the bar, while he had stumbled into the bathroom. Needless to say the man was not pleased when he returned and couldn't figure out why he couldn't pick up his change. When he ended up chasing the two nit wits out, they vowed not to do that one again.

Dean wasted no time, making his way toward a table of girls; Fulton had been right on his tail, but took a moment to rope an arm around Kenny to guide him off in the same direction. For years now, Dean and Fulton had attempted to teach Kenny how to 'pick up chicks'.

Dwayne and Russ grabbed a table toward the front. This was a typical spot for Russ because this way it was easy for Russ to pelt peanuts at everyone who took the stage. It was, of course, better if the singer was drunk because then they'd swat wildly at their face as if they were being attacked by bugs. If they weren't drunk, they'd at the very least screw up the song and search hard for the person who was throwing them. Russ had become a pro at this; being able to fool everyone into not realizing that it was him throwing them. Dwayne just liked watching it all.

Needless to say things between Luis and Guy had gone a little sour. Luis couldn't look him in the eyes, knowing that he was going after 'his girl'. Meanwhile, Guy stared at him every so often as if challenging him to look him in the eye and deny that he wasn't going after Riley.

Charlie popped in between Adam and Guy, draping arms around their shoulders. "Well, gentlemen, where to first? Put our names on the karaoke list, find a table, or get ourselves some drinks?" He quirked an eyebrow, glancing from his one friend to the other.

"Let's just go sit by Russ and Dwayne, this way we got a first row seat when Jackie goes." Adam said with a grin, tossing a glance to the bouncy brunette in front of him.

"Not uh, last time I sat by them, they almost got me kicked out for throwing the peanuts. Let's at least sit on the opposite side of them." Guy stated, shaking his head.

At this point Jackie had started jumping up and down as if she was in the middle of a mosh-pit. Getting a little too excited and out of control, she fell backwards into Guy knocking them both to the ground. "OH! THANKS FOR BREAKING MY FALL, GUY." She slurred appreciatively.

Charlie, Adam, and Luis died with laughter, while Riley moved around to pull Jackie up from the ground – being her designated watcher tonight. "Come on, Jackie." Getting her to her feet, she turned back as Guy stood back up as well.

Riley looked as if she was about to say something to him, when Luis stepped in snaking an arm around her waist. "Hey, did you want something to drink?"

Seeing this transaction take place, Charlie wiped a hand over his face and sighed. Adam looked a tad bit confused as to what was going on. So consumed in what was going on during practice, he didn't really take notice into their behavior earlier.

Guy had taken a step forward, only to be halted by Charlie's hand. He hadn't even realized he'd moved from his spot to go after Mendoza until Charlie had done so.

Though, Riley didn't get the chance to answer Luis, because Jackie had taken off full speed for the stage. "Oh, God." She exclaimed, taking off after her leaving Luis high and dry. She couldn't be more grateful toward Jackie in that point in time. Riley had been hit on before in the past while she was with Guy, but it was easier to ignore someone who randomly did so in a hallway. Not to mention the fact that Guy was around her most of the time, anyhow.

With Luis trying to get her attention, shutting him out and ignoring him proved to be more difficult. He was her friend, and she didn't want to have to treat him like she treated any other guys who tried hitting on her, but he was beginning to make it difficult. Guy or no Guy, Riley wouldn't get involved with Luis.

As Riley caught up to Jackie, Adam headed after them in an attempt to help Riley out if need be, leaving Charlie with Luis and Guy. Charlie was about to say something to try to break the ice, but before he could Luis took off in front of him, heading to sit down with Russ and Dwayne. This made it much easier and a lot less awkward for Charlie. His attention turned solely toward Guy. "Are you cool?"

Guy's eyes stared after Luis, before turning to Charlie at the sound of his voice. "Yeah." He stated a bit hesitantly. "I can't believe he's trying to hook up with her." He said, shaking his head, his feet taking him in the direction of the bar – he was thirsty.

"I WANT TO GO FIRST!" Charlie heard Jackie shout, despite the efforts of Riley and Adam.

He followed Guy over, taking a seat next to him. "Have you actually planned on telling me what exactly when down with your break-up, or are you going to leave me in the dark? Cause, let me tell you, the entire team clearly knows something is up and, well, we're really fucking curious." Charlie ended the last part a bit lamely. It may not have been any of his business, but with the comments that Guy had dropped throughout the past two weeks he felt as if he wanted to talk about it, and was just waiting for Charlie to initiate it.

A second later, the bartender gave Guy his coke – the guy would never serve any of them alcohol, thus why they'd get drunk before going. ". I don't know." He said, shaking his head. He glanced toward his ex-girlfriend and raked a hand through his hair. "She confuses the shit out of me, and I just take it because…"

"Because you love her." Charlie finished for him, and it wasn't in the phrase of a question.

"Yeah, well, you can't say that before I actually say it." He reached to take a sip of his drink, before looking back.

"LISTEN ADAM, I'M GOING TO EAT OFF YOUR FACE IF YOU KEEP HOLDING ME BACK." Jackie had scrambled her way onto the stage, but had composed herself a bit more once she'd gotten up there.

"She's so pleasant." Guy said, nodding his head toward Jackie with a laugh.

Charlie's attention had refocused on their goalie as well, shaking his head and laughing along with Guy. "Just wait till she starts changing the lyrics of the song to fit your name, again. It's really the best part of the night…" His voice drifted off, his gaze sitting on her still and not glancing toward Guy.

Guy's attention shifted from the girl up on the stage, to Charlie, with a bemused smile on his face but said nothing. "Oh, I can't wait." He said sarcastically. Riley was always at the back of his mind, but as soon as he'd been able to act normally with one of his buddies – that's when a reminder that she was no longer his would slap him in the face.

Jackie stood, tapping her foot with her arms crossed on stage, not-so-patiently waiting for the guy up there to stop singing. (Guy was sure majority of the joint wanted to stop singing anyhow.) Perfectly in his line of vision to the stage was watching Riley and Adam sit down at the table next to Russ, Luis, and Dwayne. His eyes narrowed once more, as Luis shifted his seat closer to Riley, and he didn't even realize his fist balling up and slamming down on the bar somewhat.

This jerked Charlie's attention away from the brunette on stage and back to his friend. "Do you want me to talk to Luis for you?" Maybe he thought it his duty as the captain to talk to him, but in reality the hockey team really had nothing to do with the issue between Riley, Guy, and Luis. Even though the team would ultimately be affected.

"No." Guy said immediately, "I'll say something."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Charlie said warily. The truth was – they were all hot-heads, and had violent tendencies. They were hockey players for Christ sake. A conversation between Luis and Guy would turn into flying fists, despite the fact that they're friends.

Guy got up from his seat, leaving his drink there. "What's the worst that could happen?" He asked Charlie, his arms out as he headed toward the front tables where everyone sat.

Charlie arose from his seat as well, meandering his way toward the group as well. "Come on, Guy, you and I both know that the team is going to be effected by this if you do something stupid." He started. "I mean, the three of you are on a line together at times--

"Charlie not everything is about the team, alright?" Guy cut him off. Charlie was only making things worse at this point. "Next year we won't even be able to play together anyway, we're all be going our separate ways." He pointed out something Charlie had worked hard not to focus on. "… and if there's one thing I'm going to make sure it's that Riley follows in my direction rather then Luis." And Guy moved out of speaking range.

Charlie felt defeated. There was really no way to avoid a conflict with Guy and Luis, because Guy was right in the end. Maybe them having this out sooner rather than later was better. He hoped.

"GUY'S SO VAAAAIN. HE PROBABLY THINKS THIS SONG IS ABOUT HIIIM." Jackie's drunken voice boomed from the mic.

Watching Jackie made a fool of herself was enough to take Charlie's mind off the situation for now, and he sat down on the opposite side of Adam.

"Here we go." Adam laughed, gesturing to Jackie.

Just as Guy pulled up a seat on the other side of Riley, the two turned to glance at him. She smiled at him, while Luis looked unsure. "Hey, man." He said, despite it all.

Guy gave a nod, "Russ throwing peanuts yet?" He questioned his gaze on Mendoza as he slipped an arm around Riley's shoulders.

She didn't seem too uncomfortable with this. Either that or she hadn't noticed it yet. Let the record state, Riley didn't break up with Guy because she didn't have feelings for him anymore. And she was so used to being with him, that while rapped up with Jackie's singing – "WITH A TASTE OF HIS LIPS YOU'RE ON A RIDE, GUY'S TOXIC AVERMAN'S SLIPPING UNDER." She didn't see the gesture as odd.

"No, not yet, he ate the last ones, so he's waiting for more." Luis answered, slipping a hand onto Riley's thigh.

This was what jerked Riley back to reality and she jumped at this. Her hand pushed Luis' hand off her leg and shrugged Guy's arm off her shoulders. "Come on, guys…" She started, but no one listened.

Both Guy and Luis stood up, and took a step closer to each other. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Guy accused immediately.

"I could ask you the same thing; you put your arm around her first." Luis pointed at him, while the rest of the group took this moment to glance on in awe.

"Yeah, big deal my arm draped around her shoulder. You were the one feeling up her fucking leg." As the words came out of his mouth, it seemed to make him angrier. "Don't fucking touch her." He shoved Luis forward.

"GUY'S SO VAAAAAIN, HE'S TAKING AWAY MY LIMELIGHT." Jackie sang in a sing-song voice, to the song she'd previously been singing.

Riley rose to her feet, and stepped herself in between the two. She wasn't afraid to be in the cross-fire, not at all. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

Luis had moved to shove him back, but hadn't anticipated on the obstacle aka Riley in between, so his movements halted, but he didn't acknowledge Riley verbally. "Last time I checked you two were broken up." He spat.

"Guy, please." The blonde's attention turned toward her ex. Hopefully, he'd listen to her.

It was hard for Guy to continue to do something that Riley pleaded with him not to do. Her voice carried into his mind, and in a way it calmed him. Taking a deep breath, he glanced down toward Riley, before looking back to Luis. "I'm serious, don't touch her." He said the last part not vehemently, but a warning definitely backed it.

Charlie, Adam, Dwayne, and Russ were on their feet at this point, waiting to pry the two apart. Just when they thought things had settled down and watched as Guy turned to walk away – that's when Luis sucker-punched him.

In the blink of an eye Portman and Fulton were over there as well, as Guy, in turn tackled Luis to the ground. The group huddled around the two, with a bit of difficulty since they were rolling around on the ground, their arms swinging wildly.

In a last ditch effort, Riley attempted to dive in – hating being the cause for the fight right now, but Adam's arms snaked around her waist pulling her out of the way. "Adam!" She exclaimed, shoving him off. "He'll stop if I ask him to!" She said about Guy, looking at Adam furiously.

"Not this time, Riley." Adam said with a sigh, and watched as the team finally pried the two apart.

"MAKES GUY THAT MUCH STRONGER, MAKES GUY THAT MUCH WISER, THANKS FOR MAKING GUY A FIGHTER!" The drunk carried on from the stage.

Riley didn't want to deal with it anymore, she glanced at Adam. "I'm going back to campus, can you watch Jackie?" Adam agreed immediately, and she took off toward the door. The whole group would probably be getting kicked out, so the night was over anyway, and she just wanted to be alone.

Just as she walked out the door, Charlie caught up to her. "Riles!" He called, grabbing her at her elbow to ensure she stopped.

She did. "I got Adam to keep an eye on Jackie-- She started, thinking that's what this was about.

"I'm not here to talk about Jackie. Look, you have the right to do whatever you want with your life and I'll even support it one hundred percent. Despite the fact that I don't think you're really happy with your decision." He had paused for a moment, but immediately picked up before she could talk. "… but, unless you're really planning on pursuing something with Mendoza--

"I'm not!"

"Then tell him! Then at least he'll stop hitting on you and maybe shit like this won't happen." He exclaimed.

Her brow furrowed, and her eyes surveyed the man in front of her. "That's not fair…"

"No, Riley, it's totally fair. Luis may be a shit-bag for trying to pursue anything with you at all, but leading him on isn't only bad for him, but it's making things harder for Guy. You know, the kid you care SO much about."

Riley's arms flopped to her sides. "… what am I suppose to do? What am I suppose to say? Of course I care about him; I'd do anything for him!"

"Except be with him, right?" On that note, Charlie turned on his heel and strode back into the bar. He really wasn't trying to tell her that her only option was being with Guy, because he was just as close with her as he was with him. He wanted to support her decisions, but at the same time he wanted to be in a room with Luis and Guy and not have to keep them separated the whole time.


	4. Smarter than you think you are Averman

**I don't own the Mighty Ducks.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I also forgot to mention that the story is more modernized. Technically, their Senior Year would have taken place in 2000 but for the sake of my sanity – aka not having to look up everything to see when it actually came out before using it in the story – I'm just saying it's taking place around nowish.**

_guessgirl: Thanks for the review! Jackie will be singing more drunk karaoke, I promise, haha. Yeah, Riley's an idiot, but ultimately she's a good person so she'll stop being an idiot soon. I had a certain outlook planned for the two girls, and how the movies portrayed Julie and Connie, it just wasn't working. I'm glad you're reading despite the fact that I switched up the girls. Thank you, again! Oh, but the way I'm waiting for A Twisted Fate to be updated._

**Chapter 3: Smarter then you think you are Averman.**

While Riley had retreated home on her own, Charlie had decided that it was best for Adam to walk back with Luis. Adam was closest to him to begin with, and this way he could keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Charlie enlisted Guy's help to get Jackie back to her room safely.

"Guy, you've got something in your ear…" Jackie began, sticking a finger slightly into his ear.

Guy shoved her hand away lightly. "Yeah, Jackie, it's called ear wax." He said adjusting her arm around his shoulders.

"EWWWWWWW." Jackie carried on, while Guy rolled his eyes.

"This coming from the girl who just tried to stick her finger in it." Charlie laughed slightly, holding onto her other arm.

Jackie's attention turned toward Charlie. "Have I told you how pretty you look today?" She asked as they carried her down the hallway.

"Yes, about ten minutes ago, after you slapped my cheeks to make them look rosier." He replied dryly, arriving at the room. He nodded toward Guy, and he knocked on the door as he was silently asked to.

When Riley didn't answer, Charlie took it upon himself to let the three of them in. She had to have been expecting them; she knew someone would be bringing Jackie home. Once they flipped the lights on and got inside with Jackie, they realized Riley wasn't here.

"Where is she?" Guy looked to Charlie, who looked just as puzzled as him. Thoughts ran through his head – the most common one being that she had met up with Luis. He had been too consumed with his thoughts to hear the shower running, or to help Charlie bring Jackie to the bed.

"She's in the shower, Guy, chill." Charlie responded, setting Jackie down.

"Oooohh." Jackie cooed from the bed, looking up at Guy. "You should go jump in with her." And she attempted a wink, but failed miserably as she just blinked. Instead, she threw herself back onto the bed.

Charlie backed away from Jackie, and looked toward Guy. "She'll be fine now, we should get going." He watched Guy look hesitant as if he wanted to wait to talk to Riley, but Charlie shook his head. "Not tonight, let's go."

Guy ultimately knew that Charlie was right, thus why he walked out along with him, shutting the door behind them.

It wasn't a surprise that the next day in class, Jackie found herself slowly getting to all her classes. Walking into Chemistry was no different. Thank god it was a lab day, and Jackie could virtually do nothing. She made her way over to her and Charlie's table and sprawled out over it. "My don't you look fresh today." He teased her.

"Shut up, Conway." She mumbled, before slowly getting up to a normal position. "Alright, so what the hell did I do last night? And what did I miss, everyone seems so on edge?"

It really baffled Charlie how clueless Jackie was after a night of drinking, and he laughed slightly. "I take it Riley didn't say anything to you today?"

She glanced over toward Riley at the mention of her name, but she wasn't at her regular table. Luis was her lab partner, because they had all been separated into their partners by last name and now Adam seemed to be in her place. Thus why Jackie and Charlie were partners. "… no, I guess that means something went down?" She sighed lightly, looking more toward the back of the room to find Riley now paired up with Averman.

"You could say that. Have you not looked at Luis or Guy today, either?" He questioned, pulling out their lab notebook. "Luis has a shiner, and Guy's got a bruised jaw."

She didn't need anymore explanation to get the gist of it. "Oh, crap." Her hands ran over her face.

"The outcome, as far as I've been able to tell so far is that Riley's not talking to either one of them, and they're not talking to each other." He informed her. "Thanks for all your help with it last night, by the way." He smirked.

"I'm sure I jumped in and tore the two apart." She grinned, knowing full-well that she most likely did not.

Charlie tilted his head back in a laugh. "No, in fact, I think in you were cheering Guy on via your singing."

"Oh, nice. I guess that means it was another night filled with me altering all the lyrics to his name?"

"Yep."

"Fantastic." Jackie sighed, looking back at her best friend again. "She looks so upset, I'm gonna go talk to her." She looked at Charlie.

Charlie glanced back, too, feeling slightly bad about his altercation with her last night. Somehow, though, he didn't think that he was the reason she was so down though. "I kind of laid into her last night." He told Jackie.

"What, why?" She looked confused.

"Well, she had told both me and Guy that she wasn't into Mendoza--"

"And me." She added.

"Right, but the thing is, she can't seem to tell Mendoza the same thing." He explained.

Jackie shrugged a bit, sliding off her stool. "Not that it would really matter much." She started. "Luis doesn't exactly take no for an answer. He's a persistent little fucker, trust me, I know." She stated wryly.

Charlie always saw the good in people, though. He felt that at least with Riley, if she would just be straight up honest with Luis, he'd back off. And he might have been persistent with Jackie, but Jackie was also responded to him a whole lot more then Riley did. Not to mention, Jackie wasn't involved with one of his best buddies since before he even came around.

"Guys." Jackie said, coming up to Averman and Riley. The two glanced up at her. "Hey, it looks like you were the one that got into a fight, Jackie." Averman teased, and Jackie responded with a slug to his shoulder. "Charlie and I need your help with the lab." She said.

As Averman still massaged his shoulder, Riley slipped off her bar stool and was about to make her way over toward Charlie.

"No." Jackie cut her off. "He wants your help Averman." She said the first thing to come to the top of her head. She didn't want to talk to Averman, that moron; she wanted to check on Riley.

"… but she's the smarter one." Averman pointed out, while Riley simply stood there.

Jackie narrowed her eyebrows at him, and this time he definitely caught the hint.

"Oh, this is one of those 'Averman get the hell out of here' times, because you want to have your girl talk. Fine, I see how it is." He said, this time he got off the stool and headed toward Charlie.

"See, Averman, you're smarter than you think you are." Jackie grinned, and moved to sit next to Riley as she took her seat again, as well.

"I guess that means Charlie told you what happened." Riley said, moving things around on the counter.

Jackie nodded slightly, "How come you didn't tell me this morning?" She questioned.

Riley shrugged. "I really didn't want to talk about it, and I knew at some point today I'd talk to you about it anyway." She glanced over toward her. "I feel horrible."

"It's not your fault…" Jackie began.

"Yes, it is. I didn't think everything was going to be such a mess, like, I didn't think it would be easy, but I didn't know this would happen." She sighed, running her hands over her eyes.

Jackie pulled her friend toward her, giving her a small hug. "Aw, Riles." She said, not really sure of what to say next. "What are you going to do?" She asked.

Pulling away, Riley started writing down in the lab notebook – focusing on schoolwork kept her preoccupied. "I should probably talk to the both of them. I gotta tell Luis that I'm not into him like that, and I gotta tell Guy that…." She was defeated for words.

"That what…?"

"I don't know, that just because I'm saying no to Luis doesn't mean I'm ready to jump back into the relationship with him." She sighed, not sure of what she wanted to do anymore.

Jackie bit down on her tongue, trying hard to keep her opinion to herself. "Maybe that would make things better, going back with Guy."

"I don't want to go with him because it'll make things easier on me." She said cross.

"Well, then why not try something with Mendoza?"

This threw Riley for a loop, and she looked right at Jackie. "Wait, what?" She blinked. "Well, you're the only one to throw that option out there." She sighed.

Jackie shook her head, slipping off her stool. "It's a stupid suggestion, but I wanted to see what you would say. Aside it being really complicated right now, your heart is always going to belong to him." Riley glance followed Jackie's gestured toward the opposite side of the room where her eyes met with Guy's.

She immediately glanced back to Jackie. "That doesn't mean I should be with him."

Jackie gave her an incredulously look. "Oh, of course not, why be with someone that owns your heart." She said sarcastically, and Riley didn't respond. She sighed. "I wish I could understand what's going on in your head." She frowned a bit, and then made her way back to Charlie, sending Averman back over.

When she'd explained it all to Guy the night they broke up, he seemed to be so much more understanding about it then everyone else. Maybe even slightly agreed, until he had to actually go on not being able to touch her. That was definitely a part that Riley was struggling with as well, but could Charlie or Jackie ever understand even if she did try to break down all the reasons for them? Probably not.

Once over with Charlie again, he looked at Jackie expectantly. "Well?"

"Good news is, she plans on talking to Mendoza. Bad news is, she's still set on this break-up."

Charlie gave a small shrug. "Well, at least it's progress."

"Hey, Jackie! Yo, drunkie." Luis had called after her, chasing her to catch up.

Jackie came to a pause once she heard him, and turned to face him. "Did you just call me drunkie? Ass." She said, shoving at his shoulder once he stopped in front of her. "Whoa, check out that eye…" Her voice drifted off, looking more closely to inspect the damage Guy did.

Luis huffed, pushing her hand away. "I got him just as good, ok?"

"You shouldn't be hitting him in the first place!" Jackie accused.

He shook his head, going to move past her. "I didn't realize just how many of you were against me. I thought I could talk to you."

Jackie sighed. "No, Luis, wait…" She caught his arm. "No, I'm here if you need to talk. Even if I think you two shouldn't have resorted to using each other's faces as punching bags." She roller her eyes.

He grabbed her arm, leading her off to the side of the bathrooms, and away from the people in the hall digging through their lockers. "Has Riley said anything about me and her?"

"Oh my God, that's what you want to talk to me about." Jackie looked exasperated. "God, Luis, she's not interested!" She exclaimed, it coming out a lot more forceful then she had intended.

Luis looked taken back, as he stared hard at her. "Are you sure? I mean, it seems like she could be but she holds herself back cause of… you know." Ever since he punched him in the fact, Luis hasn't had the desire to bring up Guy's name.

"Look, I honestly don't know everything. Riley hasn't said much to me at all lately; ever since her and Guy split." She admitted. "Maybe she is holding herself back because of him, and if that's the case, I really think you should hold yourself back, too." Jackie was too opinionated for her own good.

"So, what, the girl is never suppose to date again in fear of hurting her ex boyfriend?" Luis asked.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, even you have to admit that they're not exactly your typical high school relationship. It's gonna take time, Luis. And getting involved with you is a hell of a lot different then her getting involved with someone from her English class or something. You're friends with Guy; can you honestly say you don't feel bad about going after a friend's ex? Don't guys have rules against that or something?"

"Maybe I do feel bad." Luis retorted. Which he did. "But I'm still going to try. The damage has already been done by now." He shrugged his shoulders and took off.

"Wait, Lui--" She groaned. "Whatever."

At the end of the school day, it became clear to majority of the team that things were far from fixed. They weren't going to be able to work as a team, being divided as much as they were. And Coach Orion knew the difference between an off day for his team, vs. something else.

"Parker, Germaine, Mendoza, line change." He yelled out, and watched as Adam, Charlie, and Averman skated off to the side while the other three hopped onto the ice.

"This should be good." Adam muttered in Charlie's direction, while his eyes rested on the three and he sipped at his water bottle. He knew practice was going to be a bitch and a half today.

"Mendoza, pass the puck!" Coach shouted out, assuming that he would sail it over toward Guy, who was more open then Riley was.

Luis listened, except hit it in Riley's direction – forcing her and Kenny to go off to the side after it.

"I was wide open." Guy hissed in his direction as he checked his shoulder into him while passing.

The whistle blew and Riley and Kenny stopped battling for the puck, however, Luis and Guy seemed to have paid no attention to it, because after the check Luis dove for him and tackled him to the ground.

Helmets flipped up, and Charlie and Adam stood up to jump back over onto the ice. "Not again," Portman muttered, as him and Fulton skated to the other side of the ice as well.

Coach Orion halted everyone from going over to them, and instead he pulled them apart himself. "GERMAINE! MENDOZA! What's the matter with you two?" He guided both of them in separate directions, while the rest of the group circled around them.

The two glared at each other, and no one answered their coach. He glanced around at all the faces, and Riley had flipped her helmet back down not wanting to deal with it once again. "I've never seen the Ducks so bad at teamwork. All practice you've been screwing up, and either taking the shot yourself or giving the puck to someone who clearly isn't open." He hollered.

The group sighed, helmets coming off one by one, now. Practice was nearly over anyway.

"Collins, you've been slacking all day. Germaine, Parker, I've never seen you two so completely out of sync since I've known you. Mendoza, I don't know what's going on but you better figure it out fast and fix it!" He yelled, his eyes surveying his Varsity team. "Twenty sprints, and then you can hit the showers." He ordered, making his way off the ice.

More then a few groans came, as they tossed their helmets down and began to do the sprints. "Thanks a lot, assholes." Portman said in Luis and Guy's direction.

Once they were finished with their sprints and Coach Orion had left, Charlie called them all into a huddle, for a little group meeting of their own. Both Luis and Guy had apologized for having made them do sprints, and while the group seemed to not even care about that anymore – Charlie had bigger things on his mind.

"Coach is right, we're completely off and I'm not going to pretend like we all don't know why." Charlie sighed, shaking his head. "This is our last year playing together; I'd really like to go out undefeated, so let's get our shit together."

"I don't know why." Goldberg spoke up, with a cross look on his face.

"I was going to say you must be living under a rock, and then I realized your fat ass wouldn't fit." Russ said, rolling his eyes.

Charlie cut Goldberg off from saying anything else. "Like I said, let's just get our shit together. I won't pry anymore; I just want it to stop being an issue on the ice, too, alright?" He glanced at all of them, but Riley knew that it was up to her to fix most of it.

Guy was the first one to break from the circle, and he headed for the locker room. After a moment, they all started to follow suit. Jackie grazed a comforting hand along Riley's arm as she too headed after the rest of them.

Before Charlie could break away, Riley grabbed onto his arm holding him back as they were the only two on the ice. "I'll fix what I can, Charlie." She told him honestly. "I'll talk to Luis, and I'll talk to Guy, but I'm not going to go back out with him just because of a game." She told him.

"Why'd you break up? Honestly?" Charlie sighed out, giving her a solemn look. "I want to try and understand why so bad, and if I do at least a little maybe I won't think that you actually are the one that can fix everything."

Riley glanced around, taking a good few moments before speaking. "There are so many different reasons…" Her voice carried off, and she sighed. "I'm seventeen years old, Charlie. I've been with him for roughly, what, seven years if you want to get technical? I need time alone, I need to stop feeling like the next step for is getting married. It IS a break, Charlie, it's not forever. And before Luis started to talk to me, he seemed to understand that." She said. "I just have to convince Guy again that this break-up isn't forever, at least I don't want it to be."

Charlie took a deep breath. For the most part, he understood that this was something that really affected her, whether he didn't understand the reasoning completely or not.

"I can't control myself around him anymore, and it scares me shitless. I promise, though, that I will fix this to the point where we can still be the Ducks, alright?"

He slipped off his padded glove to pull her into him for a short hug. "Alright." He smiled. "I'd give you a kiss on the forehead if you weren't sweating like Goldberg."

She laughed, shoving him off of her.


	5. You make a great marshmallow man

**I don't own the Ducks. Only Guy. Okay, no I'm lying, that's just my wishful thinking. Reviews at the bottom!**

**Chapter 4: You make a great marshmallow man.**

It really wasn't hard for Riley to initiate a conversation with Luis, seeing as the guy followed her around. A lot of girls at school would eat this kind of attention up, while Riley found it rather annoying. As for right now, though, it came in handy. She opened up her dorm room door to see him standing there his arm up ready to knock.

He looked taken back by the sudden movement, but managed to give her a big smile. "Hey, pretty lady." He looked hopeful. This couldn't be good.

She offered him a smile in return, stepping out and shutting the door closed behind her. Her arms folded over her chest. "Hey, Luis, just the person I was looking for."

At this statement, Luis' arm reached out to rest on the frame of the door, stepping closer to Riley. "Oh, yeah? What for?" He grinned.

Biting down on her lip, she shifted uncomfortably before side-stepping and getting out of the cage it seemed he had her locked in. "Listen, Luis, I'm not into this--"

"I read that book you gave me." He cut her off, the hand on the frame coming back to rub at the back of his neck.

She took a deep breath and gave another smile. "That's good, I'm glad you read it, it's one of my favorite books."

"Yeah, there wasn't much sex in it considering it was called 'Lust'." He commented.

Riley laughed slightly, glancing down. He really had read it. "Yeah, well, it kind of did, it just wasn't described." She grinned. "I don't read naughty books." She paused, leaning back against the wall again. "So, are you ready to read the other six?" She quirked an eyebrow.

Luis' face dropped, "There's six more?" He chuckled a bit.

Riley nodded, "Yeah, one for each of the seven deadly sins. It's a series." She explained. "I thought I told you that?"

She probably had, but Luis hadn't been paying too much attention. "Yeah, maybe." He glanced off to the side. "So, do you make all the guys that are into you read your favorite book series?"

She shook her head. "I've been with Guy since forever." She reminded him softly.

"Right." He gave a small nod, his head turning to glance down the hallway at Guy's dorm. "Did he--"

"He read all seven of them. Twice." She answered before he even started to ask. And before he could start talking again, she spoke once more. "You're one of my best friends, Luis. Us… being anything but friends isn't a good idea." She bit down on her lip again, looking at him.

To say he looked disappointed was an understatement, but he gave a nod. "I know you're right." He responded softly, sighing. "I… just." He began to chuckle a bit, glancing down at his feet. "I've liked you from the beginning." He admitted. Something she somewhat had already known. "… and well, for starters you read. … I like that. Even if I don't like actually reading myself."

"Even if I did want to do it despite all the issues it would cause, it wouldn't be fair to you." She explained. "I'm so in love with him, it drives me crazy." She said, shaking her head and grinning just a bit. She didn't need to say his name for Luis to know who she was talking about, clearly.

"Part of me knew that, too. I just had to try, and then it became like a competition." He admitted, his eyes seeking hers. "I'm sorry." A hand reached up to graze against his cheek. "I'd kiss you goodbye, but something tells me that's not such a good idea either…"

Her head shook back and forth again, a hand coming up to brush against the hand on her cheek. "Nope, not such a good idea." She agreed, then dropping her hand and gripped his to bring it down along with hers.

He gave her another nod and a small smile, before he took off down the hallway, passing Jackie as he did so. Walking up to her friend, she stared at her for a moment before looking back to him. "What happened now is Guy going to fly out of his room swinging his fists. Duck and cover?" She grinned a bit.

Riley laughed a bit and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I told him that we couldn't be anything but friends." She gestured in Luis' direction.

"And?"

"He knew it was coming. He said he agreed, too." She glanced back to Jackie with a small, fraction of a smile. "I think he really did like me."

Jackie gave her a sympathetic smile and ushered her back into their room. "Starting a new relationship with someone else – whether they like you or not, isn't going to make things less serious between you and Guy. You're gonna feel the way you feel about Guy forever. Deal, babe." She rubbed her back slightly, and moved to drop her bag off.

Riley made a face at Jackie, before lying down on her bed.

* * *

Riley crept along the dark-lit hallway; the hallway she'd make her way up and down everyday of the school year. In the dark it proved to be a tad-bit more difficult, however. Guy had made the trip from his dorm down to her dorm practically every night in their Junior year, but rarely the other way around so she wasn't as used to it as he was. She peered down both ways, after arriving at her destination. After a moment, she jiggled the doorknob slightly and let herself in.

Charlie, was of course, Guy's roommate, therefore Riley didn't care if she woke him up or not. He'd be pleased that she was talking to Guy, thus he probably wouldn't even care if he got woken up either, but she tip-toed quietly over to the bed of the shaggy, blonde haired sleeping boy. She took a moment to glance over him, breathe in the guy that she fell in love with when she was seven years old.

She slipped down on the side of the bed next to him, a hand reaching up to brush lightly against his face – against the part of his jaw that was bruised and she frowned. The soft gesture was enough to wake him, and so he stirred. "Riley?" He asked softly before he even opened up his eyes.

"It's me." She whispered, her finger still tickling along his jaw.

At the sound of her voice, his eyes shot open, knowing it wasn't a dream. Now, he abruptly sat up. "Is everything alright, are you okay?" He asked in a bit of a panic, his arms circling her small frame as if inspecting her.

"Shh, shh, I'm fine. I'm just… I'm here to see you." She explained. "I wanted you to know that I talked to Luis and he's going to back off."

There was a glimmer in his eyes that showed he was relieved, but there was also part of him that seemed to be waiting for her to say something more. "You're not mad at me for fighting him, are you?"

"No," She shook her head. "I saw you were going to back down when he hit you." Once more, her hand grazed along his cheek. "I'm sorry I didn't tell him to back down sooner." Leaning forward slowly, she pressed a small kiss to his jaw.

He exhaled, not realizing he'd been holding his breath. "We all know how Luis can be overbearing. A girl can tell him to get lost and he still wouldn't pick up the hint." He offered her a small smile. "I know you weren't sending him any signals that you were interested." His arms looped more around her waist, forcing her to come closer to him. He wasn't sure where they stood at this point, but he wasn't going to push his luck. He just wanted to hold her in his arms, and that was enough to negate the fact that they were still not together.

She let him slide her closer to him, her sapphire eyes catching his matching ones in a gaze. "I'm so afraid I'm going to look back on my life feeling like I lived it wrong." She started babbling, but he'd listen to her babble on about anything. And he'd recite it back to her word for word if she asked him to. "We're only seniors once, Guy, and we haven't experienced anything in life yet but our feelings for each other. This break that we're taking, it's just so we don't look back ten years from now and regret things." A hand reached up to brush through the hair she'd skimmed through so many times before. "It's not so I can experience other guys, okay? I promise; I need you to trust me with that."

Guy took a deep breath, nodding slightly. She was still his whether they had the title or not. It still killed him to know that other guys could still hit on her and he really wasn't allowed to do anything about it. "How do you know…?" He began very softly. "… that you won't look back ten years from now and regret being broken up our senior year. Our senior year is supposed to be the best year of our life, and I don't know how it could be my best year and have to spend it apart from you."

Tears brimmed over her eyes as she stared hard at him. She sniffled slightly. "I don't know." She whispered. "I'm still so scared of so many things." She frowned, glancing down at the sliver of a gap between them.

"Why do I scare you so much?" This time he frowned. "Even over the summer, I'd touch you and you'd shiver, almost flinch away from me. I don't like making you flinch."

"Guy, we're moving so fast." She bit down on her lip. "I'm scared to have sex; I'm scared of taking the next step. I just want to slow things down."

He gave a shocked look, arching his neck back to look at her better. "When I would touch you, I didn't – I wasn't, I mean… I wasn't asking for sex at all. We'll do it when you're ready, I've always said that."

"No, but I wanted it." She cut him off from saying anything else. "I scared myself; you didn't scare me at all, ok?"

It was so hard for Guy to accept the fact that he couldn't do anything to fix this that it was all inside her; something she needed to get over. He'd wait for her, though; he'd always wait for her. "Okay." He whispered. There was nothing else more that he could say.

Her body leaned against his, her body pressing his in all the right places as they hugged. "Can I stay with you tonight?" She asked, arching back to look at him as she awaited an answer.

Guy shifted over to the other side, lifting up the covers, silently answering her question. She climbed in, accepting his warm invitation. Riley laid flat against her back, staring up at him. His hand pulled the covers up to cover over them both, and he pressed his stomach against her side.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of the bruise on his cheek once more, her hand coming up to graze across it as if that would make it go away. It didn't, but it sure as hell filled Guy up with so many silent promises. His head dipped down to catch her lips in a kiss; her lips most likely uncharted territory right now, but he was willing to take the risk. To his surprise, however, he found her kissing him back. He pulled back to stare down at her, smiling. They would be okay at the end of this, and he believed in that.

* * *

A couple weeks had past and since then things had slowly started to shift back into a normal routine. Luis had indeed stopped hounding Riley, which improved his teamwork at the very least. Being turned down by Riley wasn't exactly the end of his world, so his overall performance hadn't been horrible. Still, Coach was thoroughly pleased that Luis and Guy were no longer breaking out into fights in the middle of practice.

Even things with Guy and Riley had seemingly gone back to normal. They were still not "Guy and Riley", but the night she stayed with him gave him a renewed sense of faith in their future relationship. He wasn't exactly okay with being apart from her, and they hadn't kissed since that night either, but his game wasn't affected anymore.

They stood in the locker room, gearing up for their first game against the Blake Bears. A team that had always been somewhat of a competition to them each year. Coach Orion hoped that the team wouldn't fall apart, but assumed that whatever had been the problem a few weeks back had been rectified. They'd been up to par on their game for the most part during practice.

Averman was attempting to help Jackie pull up her breezers, but was unsuccessful. Needless to say, Jackie was pretty peeved when she fell backwards off the bench. "Why did I ask you of all people to help me, again?" She grunted, trying to get herself up.

"That's a very good question."

"Shut up, Averman." Portman said, shoving him in passing.

Averman found himself flung into Jackie's general direction as he clamored to the floor, Jackie getting knocked back to the ground as well. "GODDAMNIT."

"Wasn't my fault this time, Jackie!" Averman said immediately, scrambling to his feet.

She simply grunted, as Charlie suddenly appeared at their side. He offered Jackie a hand, and yanked her up without her having to struggle to get herself to her feet at all. Averman had retreated back to his locker which was next to Jackie's, so he didn't go far.

"I'm kind of glad this is my last year feeling like a marshmallow man." She stated, sitting back on the bench and glancing up at Charlie. This being their last year as a team had been somewhat of a sore subject with Charlie, but it definitely wasn't to Jackie. Jackie knew that their friendships outlasted the game of hockey.

He gave a small smile, shaking his head. "Ah, but you make an adorable marshmallow man." He laughed.

Averman's head glanced to the side at their verbal exchanges. His brow furrowed slightly, having realized over the past few weeks that Jackie and Charlie had been spending more time together.

Adam knocked Averman in his chest pads, forcing him to shift his view from Charlie and Jackie. "OUCH?" He frowned at him, having caught him off guard.

"Stop being a nosy shit, Averman." Adam accused, him getting to his feet as well and heading toward the door of the locker room where the team gathered as they finished getting dressed.

"Why am I always getting hit?" The red head looked up, as Russ, Fulton, and even Goldberg shoved him as they passed hearing his comment.

"Fantastic. I'm glad to call you guys my best friends."

On the other side of the locker room, not really paying attention to Averman and his nonsense, Riley was standing in front of the space in between her and Guy's lockers. Her right foot was out, closer toward the edge of the bench where Guy sat hunched over. Since as long as she could remember, she'd always have Guy lace up her skates for her at the beginning of each game. Not only could he make it a lot tighter than she could, but it also became somewhat of a good luck charm for her.

Her hand moved to rest on his shoulder, as he tugged at the foot and she lost her balance slightly. "Cutting off circulation!" She exclaimed, poking at his shoulder now.

He laughed lightly, looking up before letting loosening up a bit. "Sorry." Once he finished, he set her foot back on the floor adjacent to her other leg.

"Finished." He stated, standing up to his full potential and staring down at her.

Reaching over, she sat the helmet on top of her head, the face guard sitting upward still and she grinned at him. "Thank you." She said, stepping passed him and meeting up with Jackie and Charlie.

He arched back to glance at her as she stepped away, turning back only to grab his own helmet. His glance fell on Mendoza, who had just finished getting ready as well and he made his way toward the front passing Guy as he did so. The two hadn't really talked much on a level of friendship, but they were working together. Both guys gave a nod, before Guy filed out after his teammate.

* * *

On the bench, they huddled around their coach, trying their best to drown out the sounds of the crowd around them. Their team in particular had the tendency to draw in the biggest of crowds, simply because the Eden Hall Ducks Varsity team consisted of all the winners of the Junior Goodwill Games five years prior. They were famous, for the most part.

"Starting off your final year here with a win is something you guys have worked hard to deserve. The Bears have nothing on you guys, and deep down you know it. So, go out there and play your hearts out." Orion was saying. "And remember, defense." He warned the team. "… and let's not forget you're teammates. If one of you score, you all score, let's not have any replays of what happened a few weeks ago." He put his hand in the middle. "Quack." He initiated, as the team threw their hands in the middle to begin their 'Duck' chant.

Adam, Jackie, Portman, and Fulton all immediately headed out onto the ice, while Orion grabbed onto Dwayne and Averman's shoulders at the last minute. "Germaine, Parker, you two head out there. I think you've re-earned your first line spots back, let's not make me regret it." He eyed the two, before the four friends immediately switched places – not before Ashley and Guy gave a nod of understanding to their coach.

The past weeks, Orion had clearly toyed with the idea of putting Ashley and Guy on the second line because of their lack of teamwork after their break-up. Although he was always there if he needed them, their Coach didn't normally get involved in their personal lives, but to him it had even been clear that the team sweethearts had split. Whether they were back together or not, Orion didn't care much to know, but they were working together fine, which is why he allowed them their spots back.

Adam seemed pleased to see the two skate out there and take their sides on his flanks. Not that Dwayne and Averman weren't good by any means, but Dwayne would always be a puck hog at times, and Guy's skills were equivalent to Adam's. And Ashley was simply better then Averman. Having Adam, Ashley, and Guy out there to begin the game made them a stacked team.

Adam won the face-off, immediately hitting it in Ashley's direction. As soon as she gained control of the puck, she took off down their side, breaking through their defensemen. Taking it down as far as she could, Ashley sailed the puck diagonal down the right side, just before getting knocked down. As per usual, the puck met Guy's stick perfectly in sync, and before it even came to a halt, he slapped it into the goal. Ducks – 1, Bears – 0. It was definitely the start to a season they were looking for.

Throughout the entire game, the Ducks were consistently ahead – proving once again why the entire team was given scholarships to Eden Hall. They finished the game with a score of 8 to 2 and were very pleased with the turnout.

To celebrate their first victory of the season, the team of course gathered onto the ice at the sound of the buzzer. Huddled near the center of the rink, they hugged. Of course, Guy had made an immediate beeline toward his ex, out of pure habit. Charlie was pleased to know that they could still get through the season despite the fact that their two wings were estranged.

* * *

_guessgirl: As promised Riley is beginning to behave! Jackie and Averman are definitely going to be my comic relieves throughout the story. Though, Jackie's going to have drama of her own coming up, it'll be fun! Haha. Thanks again for reviewing, and no apologies needed on the lack of updates. It's hard to write sometimes, don't I know it, especially when, you know, life gets in the way. That happens a lot. I've gotten a lot of this story written already, but I like to be a certain amount of chapters ahead before I post one! Feel free to make any suggestions or requests, I'm also wanting to start another story – more then likely the main characters will be Guy and Connie, so any suggestions on that would be welcome as well!_

_a rose in the sand: lol I was going to call you a brat, but you told me you liked it. You're still a brat, but thanks for the review. I GUESS. Heh. You better go start a Mighty Duck story of your own now. I GET GUY._


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